Gene Trujillo, Lobo Alum Jared Mang to Compete at MLB HRDX Friday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Current Lobo Baseball sophomore Gene Trujillo and legendary alum Jared Mang will represent New Mexico in front of the hometown crowd on Friday as part of the MLB’s much-anticipated Home Run Derby X (HRDX) event at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park.
Trujillo (19) and Mang (27) were two of four local participants selected to compete in Friday’s event, the second leg of a nationwide tour that will visit Nashville, Tenn. and Durham, N.C. after its stop in the Land of Enchantment. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, with things kicking off at 7:10 p.m. Tickets are available here.
In this year’s HRDX format, teams compete in groups of three, with each team featuring a former Major League star, a women’s baseball or softball player, and a local player. Trujillo will compete alongside two-time Silver Slugger and 2019 World Series Champ Ryan Zimmerman and UNM Softball all-timer Andrea Howard for “Team Lobos”, while Mang will compete as part of “Team Green Chile Cheeseburgers” with two-time World Series Champ Jonny Gomes and Team USA Women’s Baseball star Alex Hugo.
Mang, born in Los Alamos, N.M., played for the Lobos from 2015-2019 — a span in which UNM won two Mountain West titles and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2016 — batting for .339 average in that span with 25 homers. Mang went on to be selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, where he played one pro season. Mang currently works for Albuquerque Baseball Academy.
Trujillo, 19, an Albuquerque native and 2023 St. Pius High School graduate, is a rising sophomore first baseman for UNM coming off a promising freshman campaign in which he hit .304 with four homers over 25 games and was named MW Freshman of the Week. Among 2023 high school graduates in New Mexico, Trujillo was ranked as the No.1 first baseman and No. 3 overall player in his class by Perfect Game.
A brief explanation of the rules from the MLB:
Home Run Derby X is an exciting 3-on-3 co-ed competition built around power hitting and defensive hustle, with events in each city featuring four teams, each led by an MLB legend and female player from softball and women’s baseball.
HRDX is a Home Run Derby with defense. A single game takes about 30 minutes. Each player gets one at-bat of two minutes thirty seconds. During an at bat the opposing team is in the outfield to make catches. Teams earn offensive points for home runs and defensive points for catches. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins.
Bonus points are earned by hitting home runs through a centerfield target. During each at bat, batters can call for a hot streak of 5 swings where everything counts double. In the final minute of an at-bat, batters can tag in a teammate to finish with a flourish.